Rank-and-file New York state senators who historically had little influence in Albany's leadership-driven culture find themselves in an unfamiliar position to make demands now that the chamber is evenly split and stalled by a power struggle.

The difference is a June 8 coup that pitted a Republican-dominated alliance against a shaky Democratic majority and ended with the chamber split 31-31, its leadership in dispute. That uncertainty after years of rigid majority control gives individual lawmakers an opening.

The threat would be flipping to the other side to end the current stalemate in exchange for any number of benefits, like getting a vote on a key issue, a powerful chairmanship, or even a bigger office and more staff.